Mismatching Colors
by Lightning-Dono
Summary: A collection of angsty oneshots for the pairings of Tales of Symphonia. [Chapter 4 Stained Red Regalicia]
1. Gesea: Pink and Gray Don't Match

**Lightning-Dono**: I really like Genis x Presea, so why not? One-Shot. And I like Sheelos, so don't ask why Zelos is moving in on Presea.

Pink and Gray Don't Match 

**Author**: Lightning-Chan, Lightning-Dono, Lightning...Same thing.**  
Disclaimer**: If you think I own Tales of Symphonia, you're sad.**  
Notes**: The flashbacks in this fanfic are unrelated to those in the game.**  
Warnings**: Slight OC-ness, Genis depressed

-

Genis only had to take one glance at the petite, ax-wielding girl to feel an overwhelming feeling of want. They battled alongside each other and every chance he had, he would drag her into things, just for the sake of saying her name.

But then there was always someone getting in his way. Some kind of barrier would always stand in his path, and even if he overcame it, there was an obstacle course between he and Presea.

Constanty, Zelos would tell him that it just wouldn't work out; that he could never have Presea as his hunny.

-

"_Face it, brat," Zelos snarled. "She's my little rosebud." The arrogant red-head aided Presea down the road, leading the group back towards Meltokio. His flaming hair flared out behind him, cloaking Presea's frame in a flurry of crimson. _

_Genis was angered beyond belief. "Stupid Zelos! Let her go!" He yelled, being restrained by Lloyd by the arms. He rounded on his friend. "What are you holding me back for?"_

"_Because fighting with him is pointless," Lloyd explained tiredly. "If you really want to pick an argument with someone, chose someone less homicidal. I swear, the guy has never backed down from violence once."_

_They continued to trek along that weary road, Genis' eyes burning with fury whenever he caught sight of the red behemoth striding proudly down the road, grasping Presea in the crook of his arm. _

-

Genis wished that he had the courage to tell him in his face that Presea belonged with him. But his inner confidence was lacking. The land was supposed to be happy, Lloyd had once told him. Colette claimed that everyone had a bit of the Goddess inside them. With these combined, it basically meant that they were just another pigment of the land, tainting it at will and spreading their infection as they went. But if he was a part of the land, why wasn't he happy?

-

"_The birds sing their song, people hum as they work. It's perfect harmony," Sheena explained calmly, letting her arms swing loosely at her side as they walked. It seemed that all they ever did was walk, and Genis was sick of it. Sometimes those who actually worried questioned him about his depressive behavior, but these words he evaded in his attempt to understand._

"_But...Am I a part of it?" He had asked, clueless. "It seems that no one really likes me."_

_Sheena seemed surprised at this comment. "Why, yes. Everyone is a part of the nature that surrounds us." _

_There was a long pause as Genis stared at the vines snaking up the cliff, adorned with thorns on various witty places to catch unknowing travelers off guard. _

"_Then I must truly not belong here." And pricked his finger._

-

Everyone was in his way. Lloyd continually stopped him from 'frightening' Presea with his ongoing counters to Zelos' words, Raine had confiscated his strongest weapon when Sheena reported his self-manipulation when all he had truly done was prick his finger on a thorn. For all she knew, it could've been an accident due to carelessness. No one would ever understand his pain.

He was better off left for dead in some random battle. Atleast he could make it look more accidental than his other attempts.

A thought had struck him one day that Presea didn't truly need him. She was just another pretty face to delude him. However, it decided it was all a state of mind because he just couldn't get her to show any emotion towards him in her stoic, stony face. Her voice was more metallic than a robot's from years of hiding away in silence, not speaking to anyone.

But when the chance came, he just had to seize it. Without the pink-haired female by his side guiding him through his troubled life, he didn't have a reason. So why not end it then?

-

_It was the biggest battle Genis had ever been involved in. Somehow, this gave him the perfect opportunity to make his death look as though the enemy had merely stabbed him through the chest, ending his struggle. In truth, he simply rolled up in a ball in fear as the electrical bolts from Yuan's attack rolled his way, shaking the ground at a dangerously high magnitude. _

"_Genis, look out!" Shouted Lloyd, still attacking Botta furiously and slashing away at Yuan at regular intervals. He proceeded to break into a frantic run to protect his friend, but it was too late. Thousands of electrical volts wracked the poor boy's body. Funnily enough, Raine revived him with Resurrection the moment he fell unconscious, ending Genis' moment of glory in 'dying infront of Presea as a hero'. Instead, after the battle, everyone referred to him nervously as a bloody coward who was foolish enough to curl up directly infront of Yuan while he was unleashing his most devastating attack. Genis' guilt couldn't be quelled after he had heard what his team members had to say. He just couldn't believe that they cared so deeply for him. Sheena's fingers were cut by her own cards as she wielded them valiantly, their edges digging into her skin as she thrust them into the air. This was the only part of her that was red – subtract that from the rest of her body and you had a perfectly white ghost wearing clothing that was slit in many places as she narrowly parried the swords. _

"_Seriously, Genis," Raine scolded, her face a shade of flesh that was virtually impossible to reach. "Please don't do that again! You scared me out there! One moment you're pumping up your Duel Star and the next moment you're lying on the ground with your blood spouting out of your arm!"_

_He felt slightly put out as they still refused to understand his mental pain._

"_Well, that's the point of a battle, isn't it? To fight your hardest, but still know when to give up!" Genis yelled, sprinting off to a corner._

_Lloyd, whose gloves were stained crimson as he attempted to stem the flow of his bleeding nose. "Next time...Don give up, god dat?" He took a shuddery breath through his mouth. It had been a tough battle. He hadn't expected to see such a pathetic retreat from Genis, who he often let his tongue slip on just to sneak out the word 'genius', just to rub it in. But what he had done was unacceptable. "Genis," he said as he approached his short friend._

"_What?" Genis replied bitterly, wiping away his tears hastily. _

"_You can't die." _

-

He couldn't have expected more from his friends, of course. They had tried to convince him that what he had done wasn't the way. Genis still didn't take comfort from any of their words. Zelos had still hurt him more than ever.

-

"_Can't you stop gloating for one second?" Genis growled at Zelos, who explaining to everyone exactly how many 'hunnies' he had, including their names and profiles. _

"_And she was a really thin, slender- No, Genis, I can't." _

_Genis boldly made his way to the front, shouldering Presea and giving her a hearty wink. She watched him, as though fascinated that such an action could be achieved just by closing one's eye and smiling. _

"_Hi, Genis," she said shyly before Genis was rudely shoved out of the way._

"_What in the world was that for?" He screamed, drawing everyone's attention. He was at his breaking point – he pretended that the past didn't exist and that nothing else possibly could've gotten in his way. This had to be Zelos' way of torturing him for the time he had left. There was doubt in his voice as he uttered, "Can't you let me be with her just once?" He was very aware of the shining, blue eyes that surveyed him closely from behind. Followed by a few other pairs of orbs. _

"_Hmm...No," Zelos said frankly. "Now how about getting out of the way, ya little twerp?" _

"_Why can't you just let me be with her? You have tons of other girls – why does it have to be her? Or do you just take joy in harassing me?" _

_The flaming head of hair bowed in thought. _

"_No," he said slowly. "I'd never harass anyone, if you know what I mean. After all, I'm the Chosen..." His voice trailed off into nothingness._

_Genis snorted loudly. "Of course you don't. You push me out of the way and yet you insist that you aren't annoying me in any way. When Regal stands next to her, you don't have anything to say about it," he countered._

"_Nah," responded Zelos. "It's because pink and gray don't match." _


	2. Sheelos: Crimson Lavender

**Lightning-Dono**: I decided to make this fanfic into a collection of angst-romance fanfics for ToS. :D Just for the sake of making it look as though I don't try to boost my numbers by putting up one-shots individually. This fanfic is for Sheelos. I don't know what happens to Zelos, so don't try and correct me with spoilers.

Crimson Lavender 

**Author**: Guess who.**  
Disclaimer**: Take a wild guess. I'm sure you'll get it right.**  
Notes**: Flashbacks are not actual in-game scenes.**  
Warnings**: Suicide

-

The day Zelos left their party, gracing Sheena with silence that she had always longed for, comic was no longer a huge part of their lives. Everyday they would trek through the same wounded forests, monsters hungrily eating away at the trees. Eventually, the trees would disappear, just like Zelos did.

-

_"Sheena, this is my final word," Zelos whispered, hand rested gently above her hip. Sheena was all too tearful to try and remove it's position. _

_"You mean...You're leaving?" Her eyes watered dramatically, her heart aching even though her true love was standing right before her. She wanted to remain stationary in his arms, having him caress her slender frame forever. And most unlike her, she wasn't willing to let him go._

_Zelos fingered her bangs playfully, like he was stalling for time._

"_Well...Yes." He seemed uncomfortable admitting this. He let his free hand drop on her shoulder. "You know I don't want to, Sheena, so don't cry..." _

_Sheena buried her soft face into Zelos' shoulder. _

"_Promise me that you'll come back some day. Atleast come and see me." Her voice was muffled from speaking into volumes of clothing. They were standing on the freezing streets of Flanoir, snow falling gently around them. Citizens of the town were holiday shopping frantically exchanging and bartering at counters. Zelos and Sheena didn't want to join in on the festivities. They had hidden themselves in a forgotten corner of the city beneath the heavy an snow-ridden tree. This scene would paint it's way into Sheena's delicate mind forever._

"_I can't promise this...But I want to give you something." Zelos retrieved a pale lavender flower from his pocket, his heavily gloved hands passing it into hers, connecting for a few seconds. "I had Raine treat this with magic, so it will never wilt," he whispered. _

"_...What is it for?" Sheena asked breathlessly, the petals brightening with life that had been unknown to it. _

"_As long as you keep this flower tucked in your hair band, you'll always remember me...And I have a matching flower pinned on my shirt...To make sure that I never forget you and all the promises I made when I left." _

_Sheena began to cry, her face warm from being on Zelos' shoulder, her heart beating so quickly she thought she might faint. _

_The red-head lifted her chin up slowly with his index finger._

"_Please let his be a happy moment. I don't want to leave you knowing that I made your life hell." And they sealed their promises with a kiss. _

_The last one they would ever have._

-

Now the group was in Flanoir, paying a visit to the gorgeously built town. Except Sheena wasn't with them. She was standing in the very place she had left Zelos, removing the flower from her hair band and observing it with grim delight.

"Stupid Zelos," she muttered angrily. "You know you can't keep a promise. In fact, I'll bet you're hitting on some girls now, you goddamn idiot!" She shrieked, pounding her fist on the newly constructed bench, mahogany paint staining her winter gloves. "I know you'll never come back!" she sobbed, using Zelos as a scapegoat for her rising insecurity. "It's not fair..."

-

_"Nothing in life is fair, Sheena,"Tiga stated in his lecture voice, the voice that had been the bane of many a student. Sheena, however, being his obedient disciple, soaked up every word like a sponge._

"_Then how do we play fair?" Sheena asked curiously, her seven-year old mind getting the better of her mature side. _

_The wise teacher chuckled, shaking his head jauntily, his beard swaying back and forth like a willow when faced with a powerful gust._

"_My, my, how much you have observed over the years!" He chuckled once more, but this time proudly instead of in a ridiculing manner. "Don't you worry about playing fair, now. As long as the game can be played, everyone is on an even plain." _

-

Sheena cursed at this old lesson that had been given to her years ago. Love was no longer a game to her – she wanted to live it, not play with it for as long as she could and then quit.

"We aren't on an even plain, Zelos," she muttered. Her breath came out like white wisps smoke, drifting lazily up and disintegrating before her chocolate eyes. "That's what our love was. It was there for a second and gone the next."

-

_"I want to be with you as long as I can," Zelos said steadily, his sapphire orbs boring into her like a nail driven into a wall by a screwdriver...Slowly...Slowly..._

-

"Why do you mess with me like that?" Sheena yelled into the crisp air, snow landing on her tongue, freezing it with unimaginable cold. Cold as her heart.

-

_"I know the stem of the flower is sharp," Zelos murmured at his departure. "Handle it with care. I don't want you to hurt your pretty self, my hunny." The last hunny he might ever have was standing right before him, hands refusing to let him go as they numbly found their way down his sides as he shifted his position._

_She felt tears well up in her eyes, tasted the cherries in his kiss, felt the warmth of his body._

_Flanoir would hold these bittersweet memories forever._

-

She'd had enough. Zelos had promised he'd come back. It had been a year since he had left, and still he hadn't written or bothered to show up.

Sheena removed the flower from her hair band and made a violent sweeping motion with it's stem across her wrist.

One by one, drops of blood fell like tears.

-

I had this really depressing dream the other night, so I was somewhat inspired to write this. Sorry if it's so unemotional, but I'm not good with emotional stuff.


	3. Colloyd: At the Beginning

**Lightning-Dono**: This one is for **Colloyd**, the pairing of **Colette** and **Lloyd**. :D This one is a songfic. The song lyrics are italicized and in bold.

**Answers to the Reviews**:

**AborsenSabriel87 **– I kinda like Zelos, but if that's what you're going to go for, then go ahead. I feel awful for Genis, though. Zelos, you idiot...Thanks for the compliments! 

**ObviousMan** – Yay, it's Sano! xD Darnit, calm down! Thank you for the compliment, Breezy/OM! I acted how I thought best for Zelos, though...He'd probably just say that jokingly, but he never realizes how much it really hurts.

**Dragonmaster-Sain** – Like said in the above review, Zelos has no clue how much it hurts.

**Katrina-Chan** – Tee-hee, just how Genis would act. xD Zelos has problems with colors. Perhaps he thinks Genis is really old? Thank you, and I may write another Gesea story in the future!

**Freakyleaf** – Thank you! Oh, yes, I'm not dark and angsty, I'm actually freakishly happy. xD But I don't know...I haven't got the energy to be happy all the time, and I'm a sucker for sad stuff. :)

At the Beginning 

**Author**: Yours truly. (:**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own this pairing or ToS. I kinda wish I did, though. I also don't own the song "At the Beginning" sung by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx.**  
Notes**: All flashbacks are unrelated to actual in-game scenes. This one isn't angst-y, though, so if you're tired of reading angst, then go for this one.**  
Warnings**: Uh...Kissing?

-

**_We were strangers, starting out on a journey  
Never dreaming, what we d have to go through  
Now here we are, I'm suddenly standing  
At the beginning with you_**

Colette glided like a graceful swan through the forest, her now agile legs carrying her through the dense grouping of trees, all the way to Dirk's house. Her golden hair cloaked her shoulders as she sprung from tree root to tree root, never hesitating once to look behind her, even at the slightest premonition of danger. A small ripple in the pond nearby sent a little _plop!_ noise through Colette's sharp eardrums, causing her to cringe slightly.

The forest was her realm, she felt, the one place where she would belong, embraced within it's ethereal arms. But there was another place of which she belonged, and that was in the arms of Lloyd.

-

"_If you ever need anyone to confide your worries to, come to me." Lloyd spoke to her calmly. She watched him almost tearfully back._

"_But I'm becoming a monster. An ugly Cruxis Crystal..." The words sank in like a poisonous sap sliding down her throat, swelling into a lump in the vicinity of her Adam's Apple. "I'm so sorry for letting you see me this way...I know how hard you tried." _

_The brown-haired teen shook his head rapidly, staring deep into those shallow, sapphire eyes that reflected more pain than the bright color dared to show. _

"_No, don't apologize!" He yelled at his friend who had been confined to bed strictly by Raine after having a severe coughing fit. "It's hard enough knowing that this was involuntary, but to have you say sorry even though it wasn't your fault? Look, I'm doing this out of my own free will. No one's making me do this for you." His voice softened. "So accept that and stop telling you're sorry about things you can't be sorry for, okay?" _

_Colette heaved a great cough._

"_Okay." _

-

**_No one told me I was going to find you  
Unexpected, what you did to my heart  
When I lost hope, you were there to remind me  
This is the start_**

Lloyd was sharpening a piece of metal viciously against a round smooth rock, making jagged lines on the surface. He was attempted to quell his nervousness. Colette was going to arrive at his home any moment, and he had to be ready to say something he had always wanted to. Unfortunately, as Lloyd brewed the words slowly in his mind, it didn't sound right. Before, they had sounded perfect. Now, as he muttered them under his breath, he sounded like a sappy greeting card. It was sure to win over Colette as she loved that stuff, but to him, he might as well have gone to the store and gotten a pre-made piece of folded paper with words written inside it.

Dirk was out in the woods, hacking down wood to treat a leak on their cottage roof, buying Lloyd some time to prepare his speech. Memories ran through his hectic mind like a constantly running film strip of the many times he had suffered defeat against Colette's innocent feminine powers.

-

"_What's that, Lloyd?" Asked a curious blonde, peering over his shoulder at the box of chocolates he held protectively in his arms, looking as though he had just committed robbery._

_In truth, it was a box of chocolates he had been planning to give to Colette. Unfortunately, he remembered that Colette was allergic to cherries, so he had been attempting to stuff all the cherry-filled chocolates into his mouth before anyone could tell him off. But it was hard to escape those acute eyes that followed him around, haunting him. _

"_Nuffin'," Lloyd choked out, coughing crazily into his gloved hand. _

"_Oh, Lloyd, you're so silly!" She giggled, her voice kissed with an angelic touch that made it sound light and bubbly. "Are those chocolates for a girl?" _

_There was a rather embarrassing moment of silence as Lloyd hacked the last of the trapped chocolate into his hand, hastily wiping it away on his pants._

"_Crap," he muttered, noticing that he had just stained his newly obtained pants a light brown. "Er, I mean, no. They're for...um...me." _

_Colette giggled hesitantly. "Umm...Okay." She walked away. Lloyd started after her, but Zelos landed his hand on Lloyd's shoulder._

"_Nice try, bub." _

-

**_And life is a road that I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_**

Colette sprinted up to the steps, spotting Lloyd's flashy red clothing.

"Lloyd!" She cried, arms spread open like a pair of stiff, makeshift wings. A smile spread across her pale face.

Lloyd grinned back at her. "Welcome back." He felt himself turning red. _This is my moment_. A light sigh escaped his lips, feeling the rustling of leaves as they rubbed against each other gently in the breeze. Treetops shuddered, heavy with animals balancing themselves carefully on their branches, waiting, seemingly for Lloyd to speak.

**_We were strangers on a crazy adventure  
Never dreaming, how our dreams would come true  
Now here we stand, unafraid of the future  
At the beginning with you_**

"Um...Colette? I have something to tell you." He escorted her slowly to the wooden bench that lay by Noishe's open shack that sheltered him from the harsh weather conditions.

"Yes? What is it?" She asked eagerly, bouncing enthusiastically on the balls of her feet, nearly tipping herself over forwards.

Lloyd set a finger on her lips, forcing her to fall quiet before letting her sit down on the bench. He fell in place next to her, forgetting that he was supposed to be saying something. Instead, he focused his attention on two birds that were chirping back and forth, disturbing the still, cool air.

"Um...S-So..." Colette's stuttering brought Lloyd back into their dimension.

"I have to tell you something."

"You...just...um...said that," she said quietly, hoping that it didn't sound too rude. Lloyd spaced out often, but whenever he felt like saying something, it burst right out of the endless black hole on his face.

**_And life is a road that I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_**

**_Knew there was somebody, somewhere  
A new love in the dark  
Now I know my dream will live on  
I've been waiting so long  
Nothing s gonna tear us apart_**

A doubtful thought suddenly shot into Lloyd's spacey mind. _What if she already likes someone else? She must...it's been a couple of years since we last saw each other...Oh no._ Lloyd felt like crying suddenly. How could he have been so stupid? Colette, a cute, innocent angelic woman. He, a rough barbaric man who had once caused the deaths of so many people. Lloyd felt ridiculously foolish as he sat there beside her. _Oh, well. Atleast I'll know if I tell her_.

"Colette?" He waited until he received her attention full-blast. The warm, oceanic blue eyes burnt into his. "I...well, I've wanted to tell you this for some time now. I thought that I should've waited because this is going to come somewhat as a surprise."

"What do you want to tell me? I'm sorry for making you wait so long..."

"Don't apologize," he said quickly. "I just thought that now was better than ever, since you're visiting and all..."

Colette impatiently bounced up and down on the bench, causing it to creak uncomfortably. She looked as though she were jamming away on a very active song. "Please, tell me!"

"I love you."

**_And life is a road that I wanna keep going  
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_**

The blonde, blue-eyed angel watched him steadily, shrinking him under her gaze. _What more does she want?_ He asked himself miserably. _I'd do anything for her...Except I might not have the money to afford a diamond ring._

"Oh, Lloyd, I'm so happy!" She bawled, crying happily into his shoulder, embracing him tightly.

"...You are?"

"Are you kidding?" She laughed. "I can't believe it...Finally...I've been looking forward to this for _years_."

Lloyd's grin spread across his face. "Why didn't you just tell me before instead of waiting?"

Colette giggled. "It's so much better to wait, because when it finally comes...you're so much happier for waiting all that time to conclude it in such a wondrous way."

Lloyd didn't quite get it, but it decided that he'd touch on that later.

"So you don't hate me?"

_You fool. Of course I don't hate you_, Colette thought, anguished by the thought that her lover actually thought that she hated him. "Of course not!" She wrapped her arms tightly around him. "I'll never let you go, either..."

And they shared their first kiss.

-

Ooh, look, sappy ending:D But it's a really bad ending...I'm not good with endings. The rest of the lyrics to the song are just repeating, so I didn't bother.


	4. Regalicia: Stained Red

**Lightning-Dono**: It's been a while since I've revisited this fanfic. xD Back to writing in it again, I suppose!

Because this one is mainly about Regal, it's based mainly on description since I see Regal to be a very quiet, but observant, man.

**Stained Red ****  
Pairing: **Regal x Alicia

--

Spring was drawing near. The fragrant flowers that bloomed by the prominent Lezareno hotel that rose stories above the waterfront. The third floor was as busy as ever, bustling with waitresses being tipped by generous visitors who could spare the Gald, young children running about joyously, and a man with blue hair carefully sipping his tea, careful not to singe his lips by full contact with the steaming liquid.

Regal Bryant had gained his prestige once more by returning to his post as the Lezareno Company's president, not too long after the world regeneration journey had been completed. He held great pride in being a part of that trek about the two worlds, freeing its bonds from each other.

And in the end, he had even freed his own bonds. Those dull gray shackles that had bound him to what had been past fate now lay in a glass case in a drawer of his mahogany desk back in his office. Every day as he pulled open that nicely polished drawer, he could see the glare of light against the glass, protecting those shackles that were more than just a fragment of his memories.

Sitting here in the cafe, donning his silky navy blue suit with his hair chopped short, he felt insecure. Certainly, he was the head honcho of his own company, but he was still unsure as to whether or not he deserved such wealth and physical well-being. It remained a fact that he had killed the love of his life because of her wishes – could there have been another way?

A waitress tapped patiently on his shoulder. Her touch was angelically delicate and her skin shone in the last dying rays of the sunset as she lay the metal tray down before him. Laid upon fine china was a saucy steak, dripping with tender juices and garnished with various herbs that lined the side of the plate. A hand of slender fingers and a palm rosy from carrying so many icy drinks laid his cold, filtered water on the table.

"Thank you, it looks delicious," Regal praised with a rough voice that needed to be exercised more often. The waitress smiled and returned to her duties around the cafe. With a pang, Regal's mind registered this smile to be similar to Alicia's, the sister of a certain pink-haired girl who bore the resemblance of a rather simple-minded eight-year old. The slight curvature of the lips; the thin, but dark, eyelashes that fluttered above her iridescent eyes; her unadorned hair that was short and pulled back into a plain ponytail...every detail was fitting of Alicia. _Perhaps I think too much. I should spend less of my time reminiscing about Alicia and more of it worrying about my financial security._ This was thoughtless of him, since the finance part of his life was clearly covered by the success of his company. But he was willing to make up any excuse to pull himself from that hurtful dreamland. He was still the legitimate murderer of Alicia, and that very thought haunted him all the way back to his fantasy of what it would've been like had Alicia lived.

Absent-mindedly, Regal sawed his steak in pieces with a knife. Plucking a piece into his mouth with his silver fork, he could not taste its actual flavor. Instead, it tasted much like Alicia's blood as it spurted from her wound when he had fatally injured her that fateful day.

-**  
Flashback **  
-

_"Please, Regal," gasped the monstrous form towering before him, sauntering forward against it's own will. "Kill me." Alicia's eyes were blank, dull, transformed into two ruby red gems, studded on her flesh. But despite her physical appearance, her voice was the same. It called desperately for him, hoping to be answered. _

_Regal was shocked into oblivion. Horror wracked his brain for responses, streaming throughout his body, spilling adrenaline into his veins._

_"No, Alicia." The formally dressed man stumbled backwards a few steps, pupils slowly decreasing in size as his lover continued to drag herself towards him, long arms raking the ground. "Alicia, I cannot kill you! You are the only woman I have ever loved in my entire life! How will I be able to inflict such pain upon you?"_

_Alicia's wishes for the end was relentless as she battered her own boss with her hands. "It will not be as much pain as I'm feeling now, Regal..." her voice was slowly fading – she was being taken over by the turmoil caused by a single untamed exsphere. "Think about it, Regal...I am willing to die...as long as you are willing to destroy the pain I feel..."_

_Tears steadily welled inside Regal's eyes – it had been so long since he last cried. He couldn't cry now. He couldn't be weak._

_"Fight it, love. Fight it! Nothing will become of this if you don't atleast try to escape!"_

_A shuddering breath was released from the creature's mouth. "My only escape is through you. How can you still love me after I have become this? How can you still love me? A person like you...a good person like you doesn't deserve...something...like this..." _

_"I don't care!" Regal was frantic. "Oh Martel, I don't care what you look like! You still have a heart and as long as you continue to use it, I will love you until Tethe'Alla dissipates into nothing!" _

_Alicia brought forth her arms again, striking Regal. She couldn't struggle, and she knew it. The darkness was taking over, and soon she would be forced to take refuge within her exsphere. She was already losing control as it is. It was as though a spirit were lurking inside her head, moving her muscles involuntarily for her, bringing them against that man...her master, and her only love. _

_She was only slightly aware that her subconscious movement had knocked him down. _

_"Regal," she gasped one last time. "I love you, and that is why I want you to kill me." _

_Returning to his feet, Regal bowed his head in defeat. "My dear Alicia...I will still love you...forever." In one last devastating movement, he launched himself into Alicia's chest and buried his iron-clad shoes into her stomach. Bringing her down ungracefully, he smashed her against the ground. He could hear the bones cracking horribly from his weight. _

_"Thank...you..." hacked Alicia, spitting blood clear into Regal's face as he leaned towards her head to deliver her a final kiss. _

_"Goodbye," Regal whispered painfully through the red substance. _

_He couldn't remember ever shedding more tears than he had that very night. _

-**  
End Flashback **  
-

Regal couldn't make himself swallow, as much as he forced himself to. He fought the instinct to gag and groped for the napkin on the table to spit the foul meat into.

That night, before returning to the Lezareno Company, he stopped by Alicia's memorial. Silvery moonlight was cast across the ground, and even with that unsubstantial amount of lighting, he could still make out the stones that were stained red.


End file.
